Arroyo: Marcos POGO ban ‘a very good, popular decision’

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.'s decision to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators within the next six months is a welcome decision, Pampanga 2nd District Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Monday, adding that the country is not gaining anything from POGOs anyway. 

Arroyo, herself a former president, was at the Batasang Pambansa to attend Marcos's third State of the Nation Address (SONA), during which the Chief Executive announced a ban on all POGOs, adding that said that “the grave abuse and disrespect to our system and laws must stop.”

"It was a question of will he or he won't. And he did. He knows best. I think it is a very good popular decision. There are POGOs in my district, and in my district, it is a very popular decision," Arroyo said.

Arroyo represents Pampanga's 2nd District, which includes the town of Porac, where a POGO hub was recently raided.

"What gains are there in human trafficking? What gains are there in prostitution, what gains are those in internet scam, what will you gain in those," she added when asked what could offset any losses from a POGO ban.

Evidence of crimes including torture, kidnapping, trafficking, and online scams have been found in POGO hubs, including the one in Porac and another recently raided one in Bamban, Tarlac.

In his SONA, Marcos ordered the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to "wind down and cease all operations of POGOs by the end of the year," which would give the agency about six months to accomplish the order.

"We should give him a chance. If that is the timeline that he gave, why be so pessimistic?" Arroyo said.

Hard job ahead

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, Jr., for his part, said the hard part starts now.

“The President gave us six months, and we also need the Labor department here. This also involves a lot of foreigners, baka magtago, baka maiwan rito, kaya ‘yan ang dapat paghandaan [they might go into hiding, they might stay here, that's what we have to prepare for],” Abalos told GMA News Online.

He then reminded local government units to exercise their mandate in rooting out illegal POGOs.

“The LGUs have the authority to issue and revoke POGO licenses and weed out illegal activities. This is what we are talking out and we will go around the country for this,” Abalos added.

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, for his part, said the total ban on POGO is already inevitable at this point.

“The President’s decision shows that he listens to the reason put forward by his economic managers. That is what we have been saying so it is not a big surprise,” Balisacan told GMA News Online.

Balisacan, who has expressed support for a POGO ban, said a six-month timeline is "long enough."

“I am very pleased to have heard it. A six-month timeline is already long enough. We can now focus on providing government assistance to the [POGO] workers affected,” he added.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año could not agree more.

“This has been a topic in the Cabinet meetings for quite a while now. We expected it because it is about time. The social cost of victims falling prey to scams and human trafficking...it is a law enforcement issue, but it is also a national security concern,” he said.

“Even if they go underground [due to the ban], we will run after them,” Año added.

Speaker Martin Romualdez also said the POGO ban is a decisive move on the part of the Chief Executive.

"This bold move underscores the President's commitment to lawful economic practices,” he said. 

"The President tasking the Department of Labor and Employment to find jobs for POGO workers who will be displaced by his directive also shows a compassionate approach to the transition," Romualdez added. — BM, GMA Integrated News